We are currently putting together our clothing order for next season and we need to start getting a count of what people what. We are going with VOMax again this and they’ll be outfitting us with all of their top of the line stuff. Alumni, parents, and others in the community are encouraged to join in! Here is what is available for order:

Jersey S/S Race Cut

Bib Shorts

Downhill Jersey 3/4 Sleeve

Winter Jacket

Skinsuit S/S

Skinsuit L/S Thermal

Let me know ASAP what you’d like plus what sizes by emailing me at mwmacleo@student.umass.edu. The plan is to collect orders and money from people over the next month or two, and place the order before winter break so we have them by the start of next semester!

The Fall 2011 Semester started last week and so UMBRC is once again in session. For those of you new to the club, this is our club blog. We post the most up-to-date news here, as well some random things from time to time (Joe Weiss, where you at lately?).

Mountain season is already underway (so soon!) with the team representing super well at Highland last weekend. We got a few new faces with great results so the rest of the season should be quite exciting.

On April 30th, UMBRC hosted its annual Orchard Assault Mountain Bike race held right on the UMass campus. The event is the club’s biggest fundraiser, and thanks to the support of all our sponsors, volunteers, and racers, the event was a great success this year. The results can be found on our main webpage, www.umbrc.com or by clicking here. Hope to see all you racers next year!

I know, I know. For the past couple of weekends our faithful blog followers were saddened by the absence of our race reports. My apologies. So here is how our trip to New Haven, CT went down. Saturday’s early morning time trial was quite hilly, and did not suit any UMass participants particularly. Almost all of the team finished in the top half of their respective fields though.

Next up was the Circuit Race, which featured the most climbing of any ECCC race yet. In Men’s D, Andrew Wilkens finished a strong 16th. The rest of the team however was plagued by bad luck. In Men’s C, Alex Carmona was unfortunately caught in a crash on the sketchy descent portion of the course. Despite his major road rash, he still was able to finish the race. In Men’s B, James Peterson was off the front of the field during the descent portion, but slide out on a sandy turn and pulled out of the race. I too was having a good race in Men’s B until my rear tire flatted on a monster pothole, ending my race.

Although sad and angry after Saturday’s results, the team entered Sunday’s Crit with optimism. In Men’s D, Andrew Faughnan raced very well and got 4th in a prime sprint and 4th in the final sprint. In Men’s B, James Peterson attacked the field going into a prime sprint lap and got 5th for the sprint. In the final sprint, James placed 15th and scored some individual points. As for me in Men’s B, bad luck struck again when I flatted on the very first lap. But after running back to the pit I got a wheel change courtesy of Andrew Faughnan and managed to get back into the race.

Although the weekend didn’t go as planned for many members, we all still had a great time and look forward to Dartmouth next week.

Last but not least, special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Weiss for their kind hospitality and Friday night dinner. Greatly appreciated!

This past weekend was the Philly Phlyer. Only five of us attended. I guess not many people want to go to Philly on the second weekend of spring break to race bikes. We departed from UMass at 210 minutes past noon on the 77th day of the year 2011. The traffic was terrible. It took about 6 1/2 hours to get to Horsham PA. Were stayed in a Day’s Inn in Horsham, about a 30 minute drive from the races (supposedly). I was very disappointed that the hotel didn’t have a pool. I had the forethought to bring my thong bottom, and the hotel didn’t even have a pool (jk about the thong bottom, but I really did have a bathing suit). The continental breakfast at the hotel left something to be desired. The orange juice was mostly water, but the price was right. I was impressed that they had yogurt. The hotel from the weekend before had a waffle maker. RIT and MIT were both staying at the Days Inn.

We left the hotel very early Saturday morning to get to the races. We got lost. We drove through the Park in which the race was taking place, then proceeded to enter the highway, and I made some questionable highway maneuvers. We made it to the race a bit late. It was pretty cold and warm-up was limited. In the Men’s C road race, Alex Carmona and Keith Toombs placed very well, both in the top 25. In the Men’s Intro road race Jim Roy finished strong in 9th place, he will be upgrading for the next race. And Jacqui finished 13th in her first race ever.

We headed back to the hotel and hung out for a while. We got our “Catch Me If You Can” on. Nothing like a little Leo in the afternoon. We were lucky that there was a very good pizza place right across the street from our hotel. After successfully running across 6 lanes of traffic, we arrived at the restaurant. I didn’t know they made pizza in Philly, it was delicious We made it back across the highway to our hotel, it was like real life Frogger.

The next morning we woke up before the rooster crowed. At Days Inns they use a rooster for wake up calls. We got to the race an hour before anybody had to race. It was first time we had ever successfully done so. Warm-up was sparse due to near freezing temps. One upside to the race was the indoor bathrooms. Nothing like a porta-potty at 7:00am in 33 degree weather. Sunday’s race was a crit. Alex Carmona finished 14th in his first weekend racing C’s. And Jacqui finished 9th, and scored a few points.

The ride back to UMass was much easier than the ride there. We made it back in just under 5 hours. There were a few questionable maneuvers made by Joe on the road. I like to call it aggressive driving, some disagree, I’m sorry I don’t drive like a toddler!

This race was first organized by General Grant back in 1865. The race celebrated the end of the civil war and progress toward equality. Just kidding.

The UMass bike racing club traveled to New York City on the weekend of March 12-13 to ride around Grant’s Tomb in manhattan. The crit was very fast. It featured one tight corner, and one long wide turn. Marc MacLeod finished 13th in the men’s B category and James Petersen also finished in the pack coming in 22nd. The men’s C race was a bit more eventful. It started out like any other crit. Everyone sprinted out of the start and jockeyed for position. After about 5 laps everybody settled in. Joe Weiss and Zac Del Nero had very good position in the top ten places. BUT, with four laps to go, CRASH! Joe Weiss was sitting in the third row to the front of the race, and he felt a nudge from his left. Joe told the rider next to him to cut it out, ever so politely. The kid proceeded to elbow Joe, and finally shoved him into the rider to his right. 19 people went down in the crash. That was the end of the Men’s C race for UMass.

Men’s D went routinely, a few new racers came with us. We are a team of the future.